Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-03-26
TEEMING WEALTH.
rrRGINIA,s MIsFRAL REsoURo4 $.
Probably No State is AS Rich The Grand
Mines of fhs Enture for All Canifa. isfs

rnD
practical purposes, they are bonn Hess in cx-
tent. and their distrhGti n is such AS D. war
rant the assertion that heiore the lose Of the
present century the aggr gate product of, ur
mines wi sufpass III value those ofans 9th
er State in the Union.
Between the Atlantic coast and the west
ern boundaries of the State the whole geo
logical column is represented, from the
foundation granite to the capston.s of the
upper carboniferous. And in these successive
strata are found the rocks and minerals pc
culiar to each all over the world, and usuelly
in greater abundance and OF greater excel
lence than anywhere else within the same
area
1t would require the space of large vol
ume to indicate all the localities where these
underground treasures" are now known to
exist and to describe their speci,. qualities
and estimate their quantities. We must,
therefore. be content with a few general
statements.
IRON ORES.
More thar half the counties in the State
contain mine of this invaluable min raj in
ample quantities TO give employment to
thousands of men for ages yet t. come.
The varieties in different localities are
Magnetites (maguetic ore, SO called because
of its polarity, or mysterious power of at
tracing the magnetic needle).
Limonites (more commonly called brown
hematite), and
Specular, or red hematite ore.
The magnetites abound in the Piedmont
counties along the southeastern water shed
of the Blue Ridge, in the James river val
ley, and in the high plateau counties of
Floyd Carroll and Grayson, drained by New
river and tributaries. And in Smyth and
Washington, and some others of the south
western counties, semi-magnetic ore is
found of great excellence, but not usually
stratified with the encasing rocks as the
magnetites proper are generally found to be.
All these ores are of peculiar value, mas
much as they are. almost without excep-
ton, so low in phosphorus as to be adapted
TO the manufacture of Bt ssemer steel that Is
so fast superseding iron in all structural
work
The hematites, both brown and red, have
much wider distribution. The brown ex-
lists in every county between the head of
Tidewater and the western boundaries of
the State They are most abundant west of
.hs Blue Ridge, or rather on the western
slopes of that range of mountains and in the
hills, mountains and valleys beyond all the
way from the Potomac to the Tennes ct
line. The quantity of this class of ore
throughout all that region is beyond all
computation. And where the railroads
from the coal regions cross or penetrate this
vast field of ore supply, and bring in the
needed fuel for their reducti n, large mod
ern furnaces are springlpg up. aud give as
rank amongst the foremost States IN this
great industry.
The red hematites and fossil ores are chief
w found in the southwestern counties. be-
yond the Allegheny, where it merges IN the
Blue Ridge, a few miles west of Salem, IN
Roanoke county The existence OF these
valuable ores in close proximity to coal and
the nagnetites of East Tennessee and West
ern North Carolina are now attracting the
most lively attention of northern and for
eign capitalists, with every indication that
whiting less han ten years numerous short
railroads will built, as the necessary founda-
ton for the Inauguration of the business OF
Bessemer steel-making in that section of our
State on a scale never before thought OF in
any part of the South.
COAL.
In the immediate vicinity Of Richmond,
living on both sides of James river. the long
est worked coal field in the United States
exists. The coal is bituminous and has long
been esteemed as an excellent domestic fuel
aud for foundry and blacksmith work and
the generation of steam. Goal was shipped
from this field TO Philadelphia before the
Pennsylvania MINES were worked. The field
is from ten to twelve miles wide and from
thirty to forty feet in length, and in many
places the seams are of enormous thickness
As convenient supply to Richmond and
towns and vessels on James river this coal
State.
Smaller but similar mines exist near
Farmyille but have never been extensively
worked.
In Botetourt, Pulaski, Montgomery and
Wythe counties ar somewhat extensive de-
pOsits of a semi anthracite coal OF local i'm
pOrtance and value, furnishing good do
nestle fuel. 1t is also used in the great zinc
reduction works at Pulaski and al the salt
works in Washington county.
in Rockingham and Augusta counties
are some irregular seams of true anthracite,
but their extent and commercial value have
not been determined.
The great Virginia coalfed lies in the
counties of Tazewei, Russell, Buchanan,
Dickinson, Wise, Lee ard Scott. In these
counties from 800 to 900 square miles are
underlad with numerous seams OF as pure
and rich bituminous and camel coal as have
been found in the world. The bituminous
Goals proper cover the whole area mention
ed-the splint more than two thirds of it,
and the camel much smaller and as yet
undetermined area. These Goals are in the
lower and middle productive measures At
Pocahontas, in Tazewel where the mines
now yield about one million tons per an
mum, only the lower measures are worked.
where coal similar to that on New river,
in West Virginia, is found in much larger
seams than in West Virginia. In Russell.
Buchanan, Wise, Lee and Scott there are
generally four, but in some places six
seams of unsurpassed coal for all pnr-
poses including coking Goals that make
coke ! per cent. richer in carbon and freer
from sulphur and ash than the celebrated
COnnellsvflle coke of Pennsylvania, and
per cent. better than the Alabama coke that
II soraptdly building up vast iron produc
ton in that State. Several railroads to and
through this immense storage Of the best of
fuel for metallurgical purpos $, for gas pro-
a
ed. The companies are organised, and there
is every indication that within the next ten
years the development in that section of the
state VIII surpass anything in its history.
The best of the iron ores above mentioned
are in close proximity to these Goals; and
the agricultural resources of that part of the
State are adequate to the support of an inn
mense industrial population.
ZINC.
At Pulaski, on the Norfolk and Western
railroad in Southwestern Virginia. are To-
Gated the largest zinc works in the South,
with supply of ore ascertained to be mil
lions of tons. In numerous other localities
in the same section of the state this valua-
bic metal is found, and doubtless will lead
to the erection of other works.
LEAD.
In Wythe county lead has been extensive
ly mined for over one hundred years. At
tne present Time lIle ldTSeSt ledu NoikS III
the South are carried on there, with appar-
emily an exhaustless supply of ore. In the
same section other mines of great value have
been found, and measures are on foot to de-
yelop some of them. In Nelson county
there is an old lead mine that seems only TO
have lacked capital to have become valuable.
COPPER.
In Carroll, Floyd and Grayson counties
large veins of copper ores, suiphurets and
carbonates exist and prior to the war some
OF them were SUGGEST lily worked. But
their remoteness from railway lines has de
TERED capitalists from reestablishing these
mining nneratinns q hare il snnn nrnsnalf